How to work out what your flat actually needs before asking for a quote

Why it pays to walk through the whole flat, not just the problem room

It's natural to call about the thing that's bothering you today: the dripping tap, the door that won't close, the damp patch on the ceiling. But a tradesman pricing one job in isolation often misses things that would have been quicker and cheaper to fix at the same time, because nobody mentioned them and nobody was standing in that room.

A flat is one visit, one call-out fee, one invoice if you plan it that way. If you only ever call about single problems as they appear, you pay several call-outs and lose the chance to bundle small jobs into one afternoon.

This matters most before a fixed-price renovation quote. A quote for «redo the bathroom» is a very different number from a quote for «redo the bathroom, and while you're here the hallway socket is loose and the bedroom door drags on the floor». Both are fine outcomes, but only one of them is what you'll actually get charged.

What to look at in each room

Go room by room and look at the same four things everywhere: walls, floor, doors and windows, and anything electrical or plumbed. Note cracks, damp, peeling paint, uneven or squeaking floorboards, doors that stick, windows that don't seal, and any socket, switch or light that doesn't work properly.

In the kitchen and bathroom, check under the sink for damp or old sealant that's gone black, test the water pressure, and see whether the extractor fan actually pulls air. In a Soviet-era panel flat, the bathroom tiles and drain often date from the original build and are worth a closer look even if nothing looks obviously wrong.

Don't skip the hallway, storage cupboards or balcony. These get forgotten because nobody spends much time in them, but a sticking balcony door or a hallway light that flickers is a small job that's easy to add to a bigger visit and expensive to arrange separately later.

• Walls: cracks, damp patches, flaking paint or wallpaper
• Floor: unevenness, squeaks, loose tiles or skirting
• Doors and windows: sticking, draughts, worn seals or handles
• Sockets, switches and lights: anything that doesn't work or looks old
• Kitchen and bathroom: water pressure, damp under fittings, extractor fan
• Hallway, storage and balcony: often overlooked, easy to add to a visit

What to measure and photograph before you call

For every room you want work done in, take a wide photo from the doorway and close-up photos of anything specific — the crack, the damp patch, the socket. Good light matters more than a good camera; open the curtains or turn on the room's lights before you shoot.

Measure the room's length and width, and note the ceiling height if you know it, especially in older wooden houses in Kalamaja or Nõmme where ceilings vary a lot from flat to flat. For a bathroom or kitchen, measure the wall you want tiled or the space for a new unit.

If there's water damage, damp or an electrical fault, write down when you first noticed it and whether it's getting worse. That single sentence often saves a return visit, because it tells the tradesman whether it's urgent or something that can wait for a scheduled job.

What goes into the quote request, and what you'll be asked back

A useful quote request lists each room, what you want done in it, and the photos and measurements for that room. Say whether you're after a full renovation or a set of separate small jobs — the pricing works differently. Flat renovation as a fixed job starts from 180 €; odd jobs are billed hourly from 39 €, with a 25 € call-out in Tallinn that's deducted from the bill if the work goes ahead.

Expect to be asked whether you're buying materials yourself or want them bought for you, since materials we buy carry a 10 % handling fee on top of the cost. You'll also be asked about access — whether someone will be home, whether there's a lift, and whether parking near the building is difficult, since all of that affects how a job is scheduled.

For anything beyond a small job, the answer you get back is a fixed quote based on your description and photos, valid for 30 days, and that's the figure you pay — not an estimate that grows once someone's on site. Larger or more uncertain jobs may still need a short visit first.

If your home is in an apartment association building

If you live in a block managed by a korteriühistu, some of what you've noticed may not be yours to fix. Pipes and wiring inside the walls up to a certain point, the building's facade, windows facing the street, and anything structural typically belong to the association, not the individual owner, though the exact line varies by building and by the association's rules.

Before requesting a quote for anything that touches shared systems or the building's exterior, it's worth a quick message to your association to check whether it's your responsibility or theirs, and whether any planned work needs their sign-off. This avoids paying for a repair that gets redone, or unbolted, when the association does its own work later.

We don't touch load-bearing walls and don't do gas work under any circumstances; if your walkthrough turns up either of those, that's one for a structural engineer or a gas specialist, and worth flagging to the association at the same time. For flats with recurring small maintenance jobs, some associations arrange this through building maintenance cover, which we also do, billed hourly from 49 €.